I understand where you are coming from. When you have such a large "Family" some "Hot debates" are understandable. ;-)

I found a translation of a letter from prophet Muhammad (Peace be unto him) to Christians of his time. [ Please note: He could not read or write, so he used to dictate and someone wrote it down for him]

Arabic speakers often refer to Christians as "Nazarines" [ Birth place of Jesus---People from Nazarine].

In both Christianity and Islam God reminded us about compassion for fellow human. More I learn about both faiths and I see that more in practice as well. Mainstream media only reports about bad Christians and misguided Muslims. However more I talk to "Real" people, I am assured of God's mercy on us.

You might find this book interesting. It is written by and for a Christian audience, but the writer is looking at the most ancient practices which are common to all three Abrahamic faiths. He shows a number of practices which are common to all of us: the Abrahamic practices of prayer, fasting, Sabbath, common meals, pilgrimage, the observance of holy days and tithing. Our particulars differ, but the practices are common to us all.

If you speak with any Muslim with some knowledge of Islamic scripture, they will tell you that, all Biblical prophets of God preached the SAME religion over ages. To them there are no differences between Islam and core teachingof Jesus, Moses, Abraham, Noah, Jacob etc.

Literally the word "Islam" means submitting (And accepting) to God. That core spirit can be applied to any major religions.

Few years ago a question came about relationship with Islam and Jesus. Another B-net member explained it nicely. Click here to read about it.

Behold! Allah said: "O Jesus! I will take thee and raise thee to Myself and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme; I will make those who follow thee superior to those who reject faith, to the Day of Resurrection: Then shall ye all return unto me, and I will judge between you of the matters wherein ye dispute.

If by core teachings, you mean the ethical teachings, you may be correct. The Decalogue is found in one way or another in many religions: thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, etc.

But even more striking, it seems is that we have many common practices among the Abrahamic faiths, which may be more or less unique to us. We all have a tradition of set times for prayer, for instance. We all have the observance of a sabbath day (although none of us observe the same day for it.) We all have a tradition of making a pilgrimage to a holy site/city. We all have a tradition of sharing a holy meal with fellow believers. We all value public readings of our holy texts in worship. We all have a tradition of giving alms to the poor.

Put together, it seems we have more in common as children of Abraham than we do with anyone else.

Another area we find similarities are mercy and compassion of God for us.

Living The QuranTenfold RewardAl-Anam (The Cattle) Chapter 6: Verse 160

"He who does good shall have ten times as much to his credit; he who does evil shall only be recompensed according to his evil. No wrong shall be done unto any of them."

Contained in the above passage is a great glad tiding. The verse reflects Allah's (God) overflowing mercy and His great blessing to weak and mortal man. Were Allah to punish man tenfold for his misdeeds, man's fate would have been doomed long ago. For man commits more sins than he does good. Out of His immense grace, however, Allah has devised different norms for good and evil deeds.

Allah performs this great favour to man in the face of the undeniable truth that it is He Who has brought man into being out of nothing and blessed him with all faculties - physical, mental and spiritual. Yet man disobeys Him. Notwithstanding this provocation, Allah does not punish man instantly, tearing him into pieces, which would rule out any further disobedience on man's part once and for all. Allah is within His right to mete out exemplary punishment to erring man, yet He comforts man in telling him that he will not be wronged.

Jesus was asked, "Which of the (613 Laws in the Torah) laws is the greatest?"

He answered. (from the Sh'ma) "You shall love the Lord you God with all your heart and mind and soul and strength. And the second is like to it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two hang all the Law and the Prophets."

If you follow the Bible you will see Jesus son of Mary was from the tribe of "Children of Israel". During his lifetime in this world, he did not preach to any non-Jews. Therefore, his actions and words were all in "Jewish" context.

My understanding about teaching of Jesus was no different than what Moses taught us. He simply added the importance of forgiveness, love and mercy of God to his followers. At the same time he warned everyone about "Fulfilling the laws". Which means he did not come to destroy or distort the laws rather to add some more understanding to the core message.

So "Eye for an Eye" was honored by Jesus. He also taught us how to forgive and love our enemies. That is the reason Jesus son of Mary replied that question with Shema ( Same teaching as Moses).

(Matthew 22:34-40; Luke 10:25-28)

28Then one of the scribes came near and heard the Sadducees[q] arguing with one another. He saw how well Jesus[r] answered them, so he asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of them all?”

29Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, 30and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’[s]31The second is this: ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’[t] No other commandment is greater than these.”

32Then the scribe said to him, “Well said,[u]Teacher! You have told the truth that ‘God[v] is one, and there is NO other besides him.’[w] 33To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

34When Jesus saw how wisely the man[x] answered, he told him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that, no one dared to ask him another question.

During this conversation, Jesus son of Mary made it clear what his "Concept of God" was. Albeit 325 years after he left us, early Christians adopted a slightly different "Concept of God". Where they included Jesus as part of God. Talking about the concept of "Trinity".

Please note, Verse 32 of the holy Bible says Teacher! You have told the truth that ‘God[v] is one, and there is NO other besides him.

Many years later Muhammad son of Abdullah repeated the SAME concept to his followers. He claimed to be the last messenger/prophet of one unseen God. he said,

“There is no true god (deity) but God (Allah),1 and Muhammad is the Messenger (Prophet) of God.”

Muslims feel teaching of Jesus was misunderstood by some of his followers. So the final proclaimation was "Perfected" to avoid any misunderstanding. Here no space was allowed to add any "Partner" to God and status of Muhammad was mentioned as a "Messenger" of God.